Thwarting Iran’s Chilling Terror Plot

The Obama Administration is accusing the Iranian regime of being behind a foiled plot to kill the Saudi ambassador on U.S. soil and to bomb the Saudi and Israeli embassies. The Iranians sought to use the Mexican drug cartels as cover, allowing them to wage war while hidden in the shadows. If this is what Iran is willing to do without nuclear weapons, what will the regime do when it gets the bomb?

Manssoor Arbabsiar, a naturalized citizen, was arrested on September 29 at JFK International Airport, which was ironically the target of another terrorist plot in 2007 with strong connections to Iran. A member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ elite Al-Quds Force, the regime’s primary arm for covert operations, was also charged. This second individual, Gholan Shakuri, is in Iran.

Attorney General Eric Holder left no room to doubt the Iranian regime’s role in the terrorist plot. He said the terrorist operation was “conceived, sponsored and was directed from Iran” by top officials. He pointed out the “chilling nature of what the Iranian government attempted to do here.”

In the early part of spring, Manssor Arbabsiar was asked by his cousin, a senior Revolutionary Guards official, to recruit a Mexican drug trafficker to kidnap the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. In May, Arbabsiar made contact with someone who he thought was a member of the Zetas drug cartel in Mexico. Thankfully, that person was an informant for the Drug Enforcement Agency. The plot changed from a kidnapping to an assassination. Gholan Shakuri and another Revolutionary Guards official met with Arbabsiar in Iran and approved the bombing of a restaurant where the Saudi ambassador often ate. Had this plot gone through, Americans at the restaurant would have been killed and wounded.

The Iranians agreed to pay the informant $1.5 million, beginning with payments of $100,000 in July and August. Presumably, this would be shared amongst the other Zetas members that would take part in the operation. The Iranians also offered to provide tons of opium for the drug cartel that could be resold on the black market. As the plot progressed, there was discussion about bombing the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Washington D.C., as well as in Argentina. On October 5, Shakuri became impatient and told Arbabsiar, “just do it quickly, it’s late.”

It is unclear why the Iranians hatched the plot at this time. It is possible that the timing had something to do with a looming confrontation between Iran and Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. In the spring, a proxy war seemed ready to erupt in Bahrain, where the pro-American, Sunni Royal Family was fighting off an uprising by its majority-Shiite population. The Iranians explicitly threatened Saudi Arabia for supporting the Bahraini Royal Family, and even began recruiting “martyrs” to go fight in the Gulf country. The crisis came to a head in May when Iran dispatched a flotilla to Bahrain and the Gulf Cooperation Council said it would not allow it to enter the waters. Ultimately, Iran backed down.

The assassination plot also may have been a reaction to a revelation from documents released by Wikileaks. In November 2010, Wikileaks revealed that the Saudi ambassador urged the U.S. to attack Iran and “cut off the head of the snake.”

The plot makes the words of Robert Noriega, a former U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States, seem prescient. In testifying to the House Homeland Security Committee in July, he predicted that Hezbollah would carry out an attack in the Western Hemisphere if it was confident that Iran’s fingerprints could be hidden.

“If our government and responsible partners in Latin America fail to act, I believe there will be an attack on U.S. personnel, installations or interests in the Americas as soon as Hezbollah operatives believe they are capable of such an operation without implicating their Iranian sponsors in the crime,” Noriega said.

Ryan Mauro is a fellow with the Clarionproject.org, the founder of WorldThreats.com and a frequent national security analyst for Fox News Channel. He can be contacted at ryanmauro1986@gmail.com.

mlcblog

Can we trust Holder here? did he contrive some of this?

Habibeh Alikhan

This article is a lie and your magazine is a lie. If you make up one lie, you probably will not stop at lying. Iran is not the cause of Terrorism in the world, it's Israel and the Imperialists like the USA and Britain and others. You have to read books like "Light Within Me" and "Our Philosophy" to realize that Iran is ruled by an Islamic ideology that is based on Shiaism, we are the followers of the 12 Imams in the progeny of the Prophet Mohammad, and Imam Hussain the 1st Imam, who sacrificed his life and that of his small band of faithful by standing up against injustice and the tyrant of the time, is commemorated in the month of Moharram, the 1st month of the Islamic calendar. This ideology is based on justice and fairplay. Life and justice are precious and sacred to the followers of this ideology. The Zionists are the real terrorists. So please get real!! Watch this video of Ahmadinejad if you haven't already and see for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H09nvdPF0KQ
Habibeh Alikhan

SHmuelHaLevi

It is entirely up to the US people to make the relevant conclusions and act accordingly.
To do that, the first priority is to call the enemy by its name.
It is not "elements", "components", Iran's RG divisions, nor Hezbollah, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Hamas, Brotherhood, you add others at will…
IT IS extremist ISLAM. ISLAM, much as we claim otherwise, does not include much of an evident "moderate" portion. It is a muderous cult of death.

The genocidal terror masters of Islamofacist Iran warned the Saudis that their military intervention in Behrain ("with the underhanded support of America*") to suppress a massive Shiite led Arab Spring rebellion to topple the Sunni monarchy would have consequences and "boomerang." And this foiled plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to the US in a Washington mass causality attack at a packed DC restaurant is what Iran likely had in mind.

Very good article but the Left will start with the entrapment nonsense because they want to see America attacked. I am waiting to hear from the Center for Constitutional Right (what a phony name) Center to Destroy the Constitution and Replace it with Das Kapital is a better name. They tried to save Al-alwaki.

Scum

Actually, no one wants to see America attacked more than Tricky Dick Cheney.

BS77

you are scum

David M

Iran has many agents in the USA. Some act as infiltrators like National Iranian American Council (NIAC), businessmen, university lecturers and there are plenty of Shiite mosques and Lebanese Shiite supporters of Hezbollah in the USA waiting for order. The Sunnis and Shiites kill each other but they are united when they want to kill Jews and Christians.

http://SatansTrinity.com C"H"Martel

My book, "Satan's Trinity: Hitler, Stalin & Muhammad," will be available within the month and one may pre-order at http://www.satanstrinity.wordpress.com/ For the first time in history "HSM" appear together on a book cover. The idea behind the book is to make headway against the ludicrous idea that Muhammad should be conjoined with any religious leader/founder. Once this comparison, driven by actual names, has been made then it must be attacked. Once the attack has been launched then the attackers will be forced to defend their attack. Since the attack is indefensible then the "religion" Muhammad (if he existed) founded will begin to be viewed as the scam it is. This book has been written under the principle of KISS. And nothing is simpler to understand than Hitler and Stalin…..and now, Muhammad. Thank you for your time…….C"H"Martel

alexander

fuBAR Ack "will talk" with Iran.
Whatta wuss…

Scum

These are the same guys responsible for the assassination in Dubai. Oh, wait a minute, that was the MOSSAD. LOL LOL

mrbean

Since Iran and the Deltas are already on probation, Obama will now put the Iranians double secret probation" so there!

StephenD

LOL!! That'll show them!

tagalog

What is missing from our policy on our warmaking/special ops playbook that we haven't developed plans for doing something similar to Iran? We've known that Iran is at war with us since the 1979 hostage incident (they declared war on the U.S. on November 4, 1979); what it is about our leaders that they haven't taken steps to develop plans to retaliate in kind for stuff that Eric Holder claims we KNOW Iran has tried to execute against us? Are they really all that afraid of our weak sisters?

WilliamJamesWard

Maybe Obama and Holder have, I can see them blowing up any Iranian
Embassy in DC if there is one and it's ambassador in any public restaurant
Mrs. O. declared to fat for good health. Yes the big O and Holder are ready
to show how tough they are………………………………………….William

Asher

The fact that this happened shows that this administration has never stood up to terrorists, he has enabled them, now Iran feels they can push the United States..Sanctions are like swatting at flies.

mrbean

Put me in charge and the last words the Iranians will hear is: "I am the flail of Allah. Had you not committed such great sins, Allah would not have sent a punishment like me upon you."

http://www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com Robert A. Hall

Guess they didn’t get the “Islam is a religion of peace” memo. I recently read a bone-chilling new novel by a former CIA agent about an Iran-sponsored terror attack on the US, “The Woolsorter’s Plaque.” We may yet see it overtaken by events. I will link to this from my Old Jarhead blog.

Robert A. Hall
Author: The Coming Collapse of the American Republic
(All royalties go to a charity to help wounded veterans)
For a free PDF of the book, write tartanmarine(at)gmail.com

ObamaYoMoma

Iran has been killing American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan for years with impunity, it has been pursuing nuclear weapons with impunity for years, and it has observed how incompetent America is with respect to Afghanistan and Iraq. Hence, why would Iran not be encouraged and emboldened, as it correctly assesses our government is too incompetent to respond with force?

Anyhow, if anyone thinks Iran's planned terrorist attack was bold, wait until after it acquires nukes to see how far more aggressive Iran will become.

WilliamJamesWard

Obama and Hillary Clinton are probably meeting with their advisors as to what to
do right now, I am sure the Muslim Brotherhood will give them good advice. Just
to show Iran how much trouble they are in Mullah Obama will blow up St.Patricks
Cathedrial in NYC as a warning to religious entities throughout the world that
extremism and fascist believers will not be tolerated. He is ordering the roundup
of all Quakers for questioning and haircuts………………………………William

Ghostwriter

Gee! Iran involved in a terrorist attack?! What a surprise! NOT!!!

angel

I can't believe you guys do not see this for what it is. It is all orchestrated by the Obama regime make no mistake.

Guest

I think you're absolutely right. If their luck held out the Obamacommies could manipulate Israel into attacking Iran and Iran would retaliate and the war is on. I think they hope Iran wipes Israel off the map.So where are the photos of the second guy supposedly involved that they haven't apprehended? Nowhere, because he doesn't exist.

SoCalMike

Fear Not.
Obama and the generals will French Kiss and Kitty Lick their way through Iranian nukes after they get done bribing Pakistan and North Korea.

Where the hell are the adults?

Brujo Blanco

To make money cartels will climb in bed with anyone. Terrorist and cartels have one thing in common; they are both evil.

John

Be careful of what you hear from any Government. The USA fabricated a reason to topple Iraq. That should give you reason to question news like this and to do your own fact digging. I do not propose to know if these events are really linked back to Iran, but i am open to more fact finding.

maturin20

Hey, we lived with the KGB killing people left and right for decades. This is small potatoes in comparison.

ObamaYoMoma

Just curious, are you the great grandson of Neville Chamberlain or something?

maturin20

No, Wilt. I'm pretty dominant in the paint.

ObamaYoMoma

I doubt it. I bet you have two LEFT feet.

http://www.contextflexed.com Flipside

You must be young. We had so much better world threats in my day.

maturin20

And we didn't need no think tanks or fancy online magazines to tell us who was trying to boost our bacon!

sam000

Terror plot against Saudi Ambassador and explosion in the US, an all out war called by the mullahs' regime against the international community

The Iranian Resistance, while pleased about foiling the criminal plot of the terrorist Quds force to assassinate Saudi Ambassador to the US and explosion in that country, considers it an all out war called by the mullahs' regime against the international community that was directed by Khamenei.
The Quds force does not recognize any boundaries for exporting terrorism. This force is directly under the command of Khamenei and is accountable only to him.
The Iranian Resistance has repeatedly said before that the result of appeasement with the mullahs' regime and placing the People's Mohjahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), the main opposition to the regime, in the terrorism list, is clearing the godfather and main sponsor of terrorism in the world, and giving it an opportunity to advance its fundamentalist and terrorist ominous goals.
The mullahs' regime, which has held the grip of power in the past 30 years by resorting to suppression, export of fundamentalism and terrorism, now faced with ever growing international isolation and internal crisis that have pressed it hard, increasingly will use these two levers. Only with the toppling of this regime, its resort to terrorism will end. Adoption of a firm policy vis-à-vis this regime and comprehensive sanctions including oil embargo has increasingly become a necessity.
Time has come to end participation in suppression of the opposition by placing it in the terrorism list and to support the Iranian people's quest for democratic change in Iran.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
October 11, 2011

ger reader

what will it do with them? attack the saudis.

DissolvetheUN

I don't think the world has the stomach for another expensive war. If that can be avoided we'd all be happy. Nonetheless the iranian threat is very real.

Iran is different in that there is huge opposition to the islamofascist regime. This opposition is capable to toplling the mullahs, but it has never been supported from the west. The west should start supporting the iranian prople now. They hate their leaders as much as we do.

Traveler

American citizens, naturalized and natural born, who commit this sort of act when proven guilty should be shot….very quietly with no fanfare.

Is there a bus running Wednesday mornings from Bancroft to Paudash and then back to Bancroft? If so, what are the times? Are you allowed to get off at other stops along the way,other then the stops specified on the trip.

Habibeh Alikhan

I just posted a comment explaining the Shia ideology on which the Islamic Republic of Iran runs the country. It is definitely not an ideology which condones terrorism or injustice of any sort. The real terrorists are the Zionists and judging by how quickly you removed my previous comment, you support the Zionists, and are afraid of the truth. Good luck!
Watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H09nvdPF0KQ

StephenD

You are so wrong with this Chez. The President will take decisive action. Watch as he draws a line in the sand and frowns menacingly at the camera when he reads from the teleprompter and says "let there be no doubt. America will reach out its hand to any people that wish to unclench their fists. What Iran did was a bad thing; A very bad thing (shaking his finger and scowling). But, since they know we know, they know we know they REALLY only want peace. We in America acknowledge that it is our provocation that has prompted these actions. We must continue to strive to bring democracy to all peoples. Come unto me all ye that are heavy burdened and I will give you American tax payer dollars." No wait, that's another speech.

sam000

Chezwick_Mac;
Your Question "the plot involved a "component" of the Iranian government."
Has a political meaning;
it means that, USA sympathizes with the Iranian REGIME and will try to help Iran to decipher the reasons of their anger which pushed them to plot such an armed operation in the USA soil.

This kind of language is used during the past 30 years.
This is a pass key to the Mullahs that everything they do, they are protected by USA.

Scum

Right, that's the speech he delivers to the Republican CEO's when he bails them out.